I'm sure everyone can remember the selfish days of being a child. Back in grammar school the class was divided into two teams to play a learning game, like Jeopardy, using the vocabulary words as review for that class. The prize for the winning team was usually candy or no homework for a week. Big deal, but it was great back then. You can probably recall finding yourself on the losing team once or twice, wishing you had been on the winning team to get a piece of the prize.
Oh, how you envied those winners.
Those were just our greedy childhood days, but, as they say, some people never grow up, and some things never change. Take our European "friends" for instance.
Germany, France, and Russia were so quick and vicious when deciding not to support the United States in the war against Iraq, but when the war started to look successful, they were just as quick in wanting to make amends to gain a piece of the prize. This prize that is intently being pursued by Russia, Germany and France is the reconstruction of Iraq. They all want a share in it, even though they didn't win it.
Money is always at the core of things, it seems. It was recently discovered that Russia was selling weapons to Iraq to fight against the United States, even though we are all supposed to be part of a joint effort through this thing called the United Nations. But then I guess the United States could also be at some fault for not waiting for the "OK" from all countries in the United Nations. Either way, this is certainly no excuse for selling weapons to Iraq to fight what is supposed to be your own team.
Gerhard Schroeder, chancellor of Germany, Vladimir Putin, president of Russia, and Jacques Chirac, president of France, recently met for a discussion on the concerns of international law and security. They're worried about how the world will deal with a global crisis. Why should these countries have a say in anything that deals with the reconstruction of Iraq since they opposed it from the start and injured the United States by selling weapons to Iraq?
President George W. Bush has been conducting a few of his own meetings to discuss the rebuilding of Iraq, which Russia, Germany and France have not been invited to.
Let's hope Bush doesn't have a change of mind and allow the once-opposed countries a piece of the meat.
Whatever the results are, we need to focus on a speedy reconstruction of a democracy in Iraq before something extreme happens, such as a civil war and complete loss of morals.
As for our Canadian neighbors, I have felt nothing but love. The Buffalo News had an article about a rally held by Canadian supporters. Approximately 600 Canadians were present at a pro-Bush rally in Queenston, Ontario, last Saturday. Even though Canada's Prime Minister Jean Chretien does not agree with the war, I have only heard support from Canadians near the border.
A poll by Toronto's Ipsos-Reid, a company that conducts research on public opinion, showed that Canadians have been evenly split in their support for the United States in the war against Iraq. The survey showed that the support for the United States was greater in the English Canadian area and lower in the French Canadian region.
The Canadians are easier to forgive, as long as they do not ask for some of the war prize. I'm guessing that most of these Canadians are not anti-American, although some may be; they just don't agree with the war, just as we have disagreed with things that Canada has done in the past. Now what Russia did seems a little anti-American. Forgiveness and patched relations are crucial for future ties, but Russia, Germany and France do not deserve a piece of the pie.
Photo: Meredith Forrest Kulwicki
